"There are barricades up in front of the plaza to help mitigate that issue," said Patrick McKenna, Department of Transportation deputy commissioner. "But when you have people traveling at a high rate of speed. it endangers the public, and it endangers our workers."

State police said a 2006 red BMW was heading south on the Everett Turnpike when the driver reportedly caused a minor accident with a pickup truck before narrowly missing a motorcyclist and then a dump truck.

Investigators said the driver almost hit a state police cruiser at a construction site before taking the offramp for Exit 11. The car continued at a high rate of speed straight into the toll booth.

"Our toll attendant was shaken up a bit, but she's a pretty strong lady, and she's still here and actually looking to go back to work when everything is cleared," McKenna said.

Tollbooth attendant Mildred Reynolds, 87, of Nashua, was working in the next booth, but she wasn't injured.

"I saw the explosion, the fire," said Reynolds.

Reynolds had just started her shift at 1 p.m. About 10 minutes later, BMW crashed into the tollbooth just a few feet away.

Reynolds said she never saw the speeding car.

"I just heard the bang, and things were starting to fly," said Reynolds.

Reynolds said she rushed out of her booth to safety.

Reynolds said out of her 26 years on the job, this was a frightening day.

"[I was] really scared. I swore a little bit," said Reynolds.

But Reynolds says she wants to get right back on the job.

Troopers said the car was so badly burned that they're not sure who the victim is.

"The car is heavily, heavily damaged," Fire Chief Mike Currier said. "At this point, you could almost say the car is unrecognizable as a vehicle."

The right southbound lane on the Everett Turnpike was closed for nearly three hours, but all lanes were open later in the evening. The Exit 11 tollbooth reopened around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

State police said it could be an extensive investigation piecing together what led to the deadly toll booth crash.